The murder trial of a Brierfield man accused of killing his wife nearly 15 ago is expected to begin Monday in Bibb County Circuit Court.

Jody Byrd is accused of killing Desta Dodson-Byrd with a shotgun at their home in Bibb County on Feb. 25, 1999.

Investigators didn’t charge her husband until May 2011, after Desta’s friends rallied for investigators to take another look at the case. They formed a group called “Justice For Desta,” and had billboards placed in Jefferson County that showed a photograph of the striking young woman and the message “Because no one should get away with murder.”

The investigators presented evidence to a grand jury, which issued an indictment charging that Byrd killed his wife to collect proceeds from an insurance policy.

Dodson-Byrd’s friends and family have said that she was close to family members, and even worked in the Social Security Administration office in Birmingham alongside her mother and aunts. She had dreams of becoming a fashion designer, her father said. She was a fan of the rock band Def Leppard, and can be seen in the front row in concert footage featured in two of their videos. She was an animal lover who volunteered at the Humane Society.

More than 100 people listed in the court file as potential witnesses include former investigators, friends and family members.

Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey was appointed to prosecute the case last year because the Bibb County district attorney has a full case load. She filed a request for jurors to visit the crime scene. Bibb County Circuit Court Judge Jack Meigs has not yet issued a ruling. Byrd’s defense attorneys have opposed the request.

Byrd is represented by Birmingham attorneys Joe Basgier and Brett Bloomston, who helped win an acquittal for the Jefferson County man accused of killing his wife during a honeymoon scuba diving trip in Australia.